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Looking for a donut recipe without yeast? I’ve got you covered with these BAKED DONUTS! You’ll have donuts in less than 30 minutes and with our special trick, they’ll taste like they were freshly fried with a crisp, sweet exterior and soft, fluffy interior!
It appears that I have a problem.
A donut problem.
I’m not sure how it happened. I’ve never been a donut person. I honestly only buy bakery donuts a few times a year.
Yet, when you do a quick search for the word “donut” on my blog you are met with multiple pages of donut recipes.
I’m also unable to pass up a donut shop without stopping in to test out a few of their specialties. Donuts have definitely become one of my favorite things.
No donut pan? Try our air fryer donuts!
Ingredients for Donuts Without Yeast:
Flour – All purpose or white whole wheat are great here.
Sugar – Both granulated and brown sugar.
Baking Powder
Spices – We’re using a mix of nutmeg and cinnamon to make these all warm and cozy spiced.
Buttermilk – No buttermilk? Just add a scant tablespoon of white vinegar to regular milk and let sit for 5 minutes to sour.
Eggs
Vanilla
Melted Butter – Both in the batter and the coating!
What Readers are Saying!
“For a baked, no yeast donut, this recipe is awesome! I was really craving donuts but I didn’t want to leave the house, nor did I want to worry about yeast or a fryer, and this recipe really did the trick. I put the batter in a muffin tin because I don’t have a donut tin. Still turned out great, just with a muffin shape” – Calista
How to:
Make the batter: Mix your flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, add your buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter then beat to combine. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir well.
Spoon into pan: We’re using a donut pan to make perfectly shaped donuts. No pan? Use a mini muffin tin and call them donut holes! 😉
Grease the pan well and then spoon the batter in evenly.
My Favorite Donut Pan!
I didn’t expect to use a donut pan nearly as often as I do, but the kids love baked donuts and I love how easy and fun they are. This pan is a must!
Bake: The donuts take about 10 minutes in the oven. When they’re fully cooked, the top of the donut will spring back when lightly pressed.
Cool: Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes or you’ll risk them falling apart as you take them out of the pan.
Coat the donuts: Now for my favorite part! Add melted butter to a small bowl. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon to a second small bowl. Dunk each donut first in the butter and then into the cinnamon sugar.
Helpful Tip!
Coating the Donuts
- Work quickly when dunking in the butter so that the donut doesn’t soak up too much butter. We just want enough to coat the outside to give it that freshly fried flavor and help the cinnamon and sugar stick.
- Toss gently in the cinnamon and sugar mixture, pressing lightly to help it adhere to the donut.
- It may seem wild to dunk a donut in butter, but it is what takes it from just a muffin shaped like a donut to an actual donut, in my opinion. Don’t skip this step!
More Donut Recipes:
Baked Donuts
Ingredients
For the donuts:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
For the topping:
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray a donut pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
- In a small bowl, beat together the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter until well combined.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Fill your donut pan 3/4 full and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the donuts spring back when touched. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan.
- To make the topping, mix together the sugars and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Dunk each donut quickly into the melted butter to completely coat (but do not soak the donut in the butter) and then swirl around in the cinnamon sugar to coat.
Casey says
yum, these sound SO good right now. I love cinnamon sugar donuts. At the farmer’s market by my house in the summer, there are these nuns that sell KILLER cinnamon sugar donuts and these just totally brought me back to them and I have the worst craving ever for them!
Amber says
Sorry if I missed it, but I was curious as to how many donuts this recipe makes? And what should the batter consistency be like before filling the donut pan with it? Thanks so much! Can’t wait to try these and your pumpkin ones someday!
Karly says
@Amber,
You’ll end up with about 12 donuts. The dough will be pretty thick!
Shauna says
Yes! You are the donut woman. I noticed that when I first started following that you love to make them. And there is no complaining here because I will love to make them too. I love your blog, the recipes are great but you are also hilarious. So could there be a better combo-yummy food and comedy? You’ve got it all here-love it.
Guess what? I tagged you on my blog. I know this is a food blog-but it would be fun to get to know you better. I hope you will participate when you have some time. Take care,
Shauna
Karly says
@Shauna,
Thanks for such a sweet comment, Shauna! 🙂
laurie says
i must be dumber than a box of rocks , but i can’t find the 3 pages of baked donuts… i went to your home site, i clicked onto baked donuts, but never found the list of donuts, so also couldn’t find the older posts button.. help… i have a donut pan and and a babycakes donut maker that is just waiting to be used….laurie
Karly says
@laurie,
Oh, hush. You’re not dumb. 🙂 You can just click here: http://bunsinmyoven.com/?s=donuts That will show 3 or 4 donut recipes and underneath all of them is a button that says older posts. Click that and it shows the next page of results.
Hope that helps! Wouldn’t want those donut pans going to waste!
grace says
did you think of me when applying this topping? 🙂
it’s perfect, karly–bravo!
Andi says
So…what if I don’t have a donut pan?
(I know it’s vaguely sacreligious to exist without one, but sadly other things have gotten in the way – like the twelve thousand million other things I have in my kitchen cupboards)
Karly says
@Andi,
I just bought my donut pan a couple of weeks ago, so I’ll not shout at you. But you probably should go ahead and get one soon. 😉
Maybe try baking these in a muffin tin? Just watch the baking time. If you’re too scared to attempt that, these muffins taste super similar and take a butter bath, too (so you know they’re amazing)! http://bunsinmyoven.com/2009/08/26/sugar-donut-muffins-quicker-than-going-out-and-buying-donuts/
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says
Oh these look crazy good!
I pinned your hero brownies yesterday and OMG they have been going re-pinning gangbusters 🙂
Karly says
@Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga,
Thanks for the pin! I noticed a big increase in traffic on that post! 🙂
elma says
This looks delish but can i bake this without a donut pan?
Karly says
@elma,
I’m not sure how that would work. You could probably drop blobs of dough on a sheet pan like you would for cookies. They won’t be pretty, but they’ll taste like donuts. Or maybe just bake them in muffin tins?? That’d probbaly be prettier and easier, but you’ll have to watch your baking time!
Joanne says
These are BAKED therefore they are healthy. No intervention needed!
Megan @Country Cleaver says
I’m totlaly in heart with baked doughnuts!! I must make more!!
Jenn (Cookies Cupcakes Cardio) says
These look delicious! I have never tried a homemade donut, but I’m sure all of your recipes are bound to help! First up are these cinnamon sugar ones!
Wendy says
Great…… now I need a donut pan!
These look delish!
Sarah says
What about the Pumpkin Donuts? That’s what brought me to your blog! (I didn’t see them at the link.)
This post makes me think of my mom and her chocolate cake recipes: years ago, I decided to help her organize her clippings, and we discovered that she had an unusually high volume of chocolate cake recipes for someone who did not usually choose to order, buy, eat, or make such (apart from her never-fail chocolate sheet cake). She still laughs about that mountain of chocolate cake recipes.
Karly says
@Sarah,
They’re on there! You just have to click the older posts button under the first list of donut recipes. It’s three pages worth, so you have to keep clicking. 🙂
Your mom hanging on to a bunch of recipes she’ll never use sounds like something I would do! Although, I love me some chocolate cake, so I’d be certain to use those recipes!
Jeralyn says
These look so delish! I can justify doughnuts there baked right 😉
Karly says
@Jeralyn,
Absolutely! Just ignore the part about dunking them in melted butter. 😉
Natalie says
@Karly, NO! Don’t ignore the butter! (Yes, that’s me saying that.) I think the butter/cinnamon-sugar mixture is what makes them amazing. I’ve had these before (from 101 Cookbooks). LOVED them.
Karly says
@Natalie,
Oh, Lord, no. I didn’t mean you should ignore the butter by not dipping them. I just meant you should pretend that these are still healthy even though they are dipped in butter.
It’s like you don’t know me at all, Natalie. I would never recommend someone skip a butter bath.
Natalie says
@Karly, Whew. Of course you wouldn’t. WHAT was I thinking? 😉
Cookbook Queen says
Yes, I will have some of these. 🙂